The man who drove his pickup truck into a Detroit-area synagogue last week was described as suicidal in a 911 phone call made by his former wife earlier that day, the Associated Press reported Monday, citing Detroit television station WXYZ-TV.
The call to Dearborn Heights police came around the same time last Thursday that Ayman Ghazali attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, the station reported.
According to the FBI, Ghazali later exchanged gunfire with a security guard and killed himself while inside the vehicle, which also caught fire.
There was no indication in the call that Ghazali’s ex-wife knew he had targeted the synagogue, which is located roughly 25 miles from his home.
“I feel like he’s really upset," she told police, according to a recording of the call obtained by WXYZ-TV.
She noted that Ghazali had lost family members in an Israeli airstrike on March 5 in Lebanon. The IDF confirmed on Sunday that Ghazali’s brother, Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander who had been eliminated in strikes in Lebanon. Previous reports indicated that he had two brothers who were eliminated in IDF strikes in Lebanon.
“He’s like suicidal," Ghazali’s ex-wife told police, later adding that his “voice is not stable. I just want to make sure he’s OK."
She also told police that she did not know whether he had any weapons.
Dearborn Heights police went to Ghazali’s home following the call but found no one there.
The FBI’s Detroit office, which is investigating the synagogue attack, declined to comment on the report.